Southwick Rec Center
The directors of the Southwick Sandlot League held a meeting on July 3, 1961, at which they voted to purchase 13 acres of land off Powder Mill Road, known as the Gardner property, for $13,000 and officially incorporate the organization as Southwick Recreation Center, Inc. (At the time, the land had three baseball diamonds.)
The new entity's officers and directors were J. Carl Maloney, William Stacy, Paul Hovey, William Sharpe, Charles Grimaldi, and Edward Connolly. They proposed a membership drive to raise enough money to cover the land purchase price and construct a small building to house sporting equipment and provide refreshments. Adult memberships would be one dollar each, and children's memberships fifty cents.
A typical recreation program the directors were starting was estimated to cost $35,000 annually. The directors did not want the burden to fall on taxpayers, so they planned three annual fundraisers: Tag Day, held each May, a membership drive in August, and a card party in November. Later, the Center added a teen dance. It was a resounding success, so they held a sneaker and sock hop to capitalize on it. (During Tag Day, volunteers took to the streets to collect donations; donors got a tag showing they donated.)
In August, the directors announced that the Southwick Recreation Center would form a fall soccer league and tentatively flood the upper field to provide ice skating and a winter hockey league. They also said they plan to erect a volleyball court next summer and develop a girls' softball league, which would be a welcomed addition to their popular Sandlot League (baseball).
The Southwick Recreation Center opened its first membership drive on August 21, 1961, with plans to ask every Southwick resident seven years old or older to join the new organization. They settled on the following memberships: one dollar for adults, fifty cents for children aged seven to 15, or five dollars per family. The membership drive was scheduled to end on September 4, but because residents had so many questions about the new recreation center, it took a lot longer to contact everyone, so the directors extended it until the 14th. (Some residents questioned if the new organization was political or sectarian.)
In October, the Southwick Recreation Center wanted to add a basketball league, so they met with the school committee to request the use of the gymnasium at the junior-senior high school (today's Powder Mill School). The school committee approved their request, and any boy 10 to 12 years old as of January 1, 1962, wishing to join the newly formed Southwick Recreation Basketball League could obtain an application from either of the town's two drugstores: Community Drugs or Southwick Pharmacy. Basketball games took place on Saturdays from 1 to 4, with the first one held on November 25, 1961. Tipoff was at 1:15 p.m., with the Brass Rail team playing the Lions Club team and the Police Association against Whip City Tool. At 2:30 p.m., Haas Dairy played Cantell's Supermarket, and Baxter Sand & Gravel went against Gene's Sunoco. At some point, Southwick schools started charging rental fees to the groups using its facilities, including the Southwick Recreation Center. The fees were minimal, primarily to cover the cost of using the gymnasium's 36 lights, custodian, and other expenses.
Providing water for the Southwick Recreation Center at Southwick taxpayer expense was discussed at a special town meeting held at Consolidated School on December 11, 1961. At the time, Southwick's water board chairman said they only had enough funds to install an inch-and-one-half main, estimated to cost $180. This was much smaller than the six-inch main that the fire chief favored to install a fire hydrant in the area. The Southwick Recreation Center pleaded for water service, and after some back-and-forth, selectmen voted unanimously on the more petite main.
With water in place, ice skating opened to the public, and it was enormously popular, drawing an estimated 750 participants. By January 1962, the Southwick Recreation Center installed floodlights to light up the ice for nighttime ice skating. Those taking to the ice could skate on weeknights until 9:00 p.m. and until 10:00 p.m. on non-school nights. On weekends, music was broadcast. After the rink closed at ten, crews reflooded it.
The Southwick Recreation Center was a huge hit among residents. To kick off the opening day of Little League baseball in 1962, a parade of 450 youngsters marched from the post office to the center field, where some 2,000 spectators gathered to watch the opening ceremony and the games following it. In the parade's boy's division, the Orioles, sponsored by Battistoni Lumber Company, won the best-appearing marching unit. Concessions raked in $138, doubling last year's receipts. Opening day ceremonies and parades continued with Southwick's Board of Selectmen proclaiming Southwick Recreation Center Day, held on a Saturday for the official opening of the Center's spring and summer sports program. (The directors held work parties to get people to help prepare the fields for the upcoming season. They also had a father-son movie night to promote the athletic program.)
Due to its many offerings and a growing number of participants, the Southwick Recreation Center had to fundraise continually. The refreshment stand brought in good money, but not nearly enough. Many town businesses and organizations continued to sponsor Southwick Recreation Center teams, as they did under its predecessor, the Southwick Sandlot League. However, the organization needed additional operating funds and was interested in expanding.
In addition to membership drives, card parties, and dances, the Southwick Recreation Center held other events, including a hootenanny in 1964 that featured some of the area's best folk singers. Radio station WTIC, out of Hartford, Connecticut, recorded the hootenanny for later broadcast. The Center aimed to raise enough money to build a new building for storing athletic equipment. (The Rec Center also increased its number of directors over the years. Starting with 6 in 1961, it grew from 12 to 18 in 1964.)
After little league all-star teams from neighboring towns played, the Southwick Recreation Center dedicated its new field house on July 1, 1965. (It would later become known as the Snack Shack.)
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| The field house, aka Snack Shack (circa 1966) |
In August 1975, Southwick Recreation Center, Inc. bought 16.7 acres of farmland from the American Sumatra Tobacco Company (General Cigar Co.) for $50,000. They planned to install lighted softball fields, additional baseball diamonds, and kickball.
Controversy struck that same year when a group of parents, dissatisfied with the local hockey program, sought legal action against the Southwick Recreation Center. Claiming discrimination, the parents were upset that the Rec Center would not sign releases, as required by the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS), for players to join a team outside their town. Fearing that its hockey program would dissolve due to low enrollment numbers, the Rec Center refused to sign releases; following another AHAUS rule, a team does not have to grant releases when less than 20 players are on a particular team.
Southwick Recreation Center Inc. opened a new concrete and metal building in 1979. The nonprofit company installed smoke-eaters in its new building in 1980.
While walking across the Rec Center gym's floor in 1982, Mark Rankin thought it was an excellent floor for hockey. He shared his idea with a Rec Center board member who thought it was great, so Rankin pitched it to the entire board. Following board approval, Rankin started his new hockey program. (Starting as a player, Mark Rankin served the Rec Center in various roles, including organizer, referee, and coach.)
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In 1983, Southwick's board of selectmen reluctantly approved a one-day liquor license for the Southwick Recreation Center. Before making its request to the board, the Center had already rented out its building for a private wedding reception. A few selectmen were not pleased. They said they would not grant future requests but were only doing so this time because the Rec Center had already scheduled the event, and it was too late to cancel it. They felt granting the temporary license was unfair to Southwick businesses holding full liquor licenses and that a private wedding or reception falls outside the Recreation Center's charitable functions - even though proceeds from the building's rental directly benefit the Center's athletic programs. (The Southwick Police Association held its ball there, and sometimes, the Southwick Fireman's Association held its carnival there. An estimated 1,000 residents participated in an old-fashioned town picnic celebrating America's birthday at the Southwick Recreation Center on July 4, 1993.)
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| Southwick Rec Center's 1st Place Kickball Team - 1979 |
The Southwick Recreation Center wanted to erect a sign on school property to advertise events and alert children of its athletic offerings. The school board unanimously voted against the Center's request. (Some residents on Powder Mill Road spoke out against the proposal, saying their road had enough signs; one spoke in favor of it.)
In April 1984, David McClellan, a former Southwick Recreation Center executive director, filed suit against the organization for $250,000, claiming that the Center failed to provide either workmen's compensation or other insurance after he suffered neck and back injuries caused by an automobile accident while en route to a seminar concerning the operation of gambling-style fundraising he was attending for the Center on March 31, 1983. McClellan's suit sought damages to cover his disability, medical expenses of $7,700 thus far, lost earnings capacity, and pain and suffering. (He joined the Rec Center in 1981, and they terminated his employment on January 22, 1984.)
The aging Rec Center building started leaking badly in 2020 and desperately needed a new roof, but social distancing and other restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the Southwick Recreation Center's finances. Estimates for the roof replacement ranged between $50,000 and $90,000.
The Southwick Lions Club provided a $2,000 donation for COVID relief to the Southwick Recreation Center in 2021. The Club and the Center had partnered on several events, including Breakfast with Santa, dances, and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny.
The board of directors tried several avenues to raise enough money but fell short until John Whalley of Whalley Computer Associates and his wife Kathy voluntarily made a significant donation (2022).
The Southwick Recreation Center received disappointing news in 2024 when directors learned that a $75,000 earmark they were expecting from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was slashed in half due to budget cuts announced by Governor Maura Healey. (The Southwick Recreation Center is often confused with the Town of Southwick's Parks & Recreation Commission. The Rec Center is self-supported and not a municipal entity.)
Consider supporting Southwick sports and local history by making a donation to the Southwick Recreation Center and the Southwick Time Machine. Another way to donate to the Southwick Time Machine is by accessing your Amazon account using the link provided on the website. With any purchase you make, Amazon may provide a small commission to the Southwick Time Machine so anytime you order on Amazon, please consider using the link. Your help is greatly appreciated in helping keep Southwick's history alive. You can also use the donate button found on the Southwick Time Machine's website. To make donations to the Southwick Recreation Center, please contact that organization directly.
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| Southwick Recreation Center Baseball League Champs - 1963 |
Pictured above: The Leafs (sponsored by Community Drugstore of Southwick) had 15 wins, three losses.
Front Row (left to right): Ted Prifti, John Calvete, Greg Wynns, Wayne Roberts, Bob Grimaldi.
Standing (Players): Bob Cote, Dave Grimaldi, Bob Holmes, Bill Lemanski, Mike Benson flanked by manager George Barney and coaches Bill Wynns and Al Calvete
Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
The Rec Center had 16 members on its board in 2023.
The deal to purchase Gardner Field was completed by the end of 1961. Marshall L. and Roscoe H. Gardner Jr., executors of Roscoe H. Gardner's will, transferred the property.
Over the years, the Rec Center sponsored numerous events and organizations, including Citizens Restoring Congamond.
In 1975, the Rec Center offered residents a tennis clinic for those interested in improving their game. Three years earlier, they installed tennis courts for $12,000.
Woronocco Savings Bank held the mortgages for the tennis courts and the 16.7 acres.
A Southwick police dispatcher was fired after off-duty officers failed to show up for security at the Southwick Recreation Center's Bingo Night and at the Grove nightclub. The firing surrounding reports not being filed and not handling the requests for off-duty officers within the department.
The Leafs also took first place in 1964.
The directors developed new fundraising events, including an annual holiday show, Monte Carlo and Las Vegas nights, and a Halloween dance. They also rented out their facilities; 4-H held its horse show there.
Looking to make an arrangement to use the t-ball field at Whalley Park, the Southwick Recreation Center approached the Town of Southwick's Parks & Recreation Commission in 2020. The arrangement surrounded working on the t-ball field in exchange for field use. Park & Recreation board member Mike Sheil said that part of the sign-up fee the Rec Center collects should be used to pay for the usage.
The Southwick Recreation Center sponsored several organizations and events in Southwick. They also funded scholarships.
Dorice H. Tingley (b. 3/23/1942, d. 1/1/2021) worked in the Southwick Recreation Center's Snack Shack.
Donald F. "Red" Holmes was a founding member of the Southwick Recreation Center. The sports complex was dedicated in his honor. He was 84 when he died on November 26, 2014. (The fields are Foisy fields.)
J. Carl Maloney died on July 8, 1995.
Directors of the Sandlot League in 1963 were Edward Connolly, James Curran, Vito DeCosmo, Charles Grimaldi, Donald "Red" Holmes, Paul Hovey, J. Carl Maloney, William Sharpe, and William Stacy.
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